Monday, May 30, 2011

Do you all remember when I got the bracelet in the picture below? Well, anyways, I had taken to wearing it mostly everyday recently. I've found that dainty little bracelets look good on my wrist, plus they don't get caught on things at work.Well, I lost it on Sunday. I'm kinda bummed, a bit more than I should be. I got it for a quarter and didn't know what to do with it. The clasp had a tendency to come open because it was old, so I'm guessing that's what happened to it. It was perfect because it was dainty, and pretty much went with everything.I'm hoping to find a new one sometime this summer, but there's no guarantee.

So, I won't be going to DC next week. It ended up that my aunt decided not to go, and I really don't want to go on another vacation with my parents. I see how irritated my mom gets with my dad, plus she'll be driving to the battlefields, and she gets annoyed about that, and I just don't need it.I might be going to Okoboji for a few days at the end of the summer, so that will be nice. I have to see if anyone will work for me for 2 of those days, but I think (cross your fingers), they will.

I joined 2 summer swaps recently. One is a BEACH swap, where we have to come up with items that start with the letters in beach. My partner is in Australia, I'm pretty psyched about that. I decided I should say yes I would do the swap with someone outside the US, just for a little change.The other one is a summer essentials swap. We have to spend $20 on summer essentials, I have a couple things and will hopefully get in touch with my partner to see what she's interested.

My birthday's coming. In a little over a month, July 2nd, I will be 28 (UGH!). I have decided to do a giveaway again, so any comments on this post until July 2nd will count. They will be items from garage saleing, I don't guarantee to remember to mark them, but they'll be cool (I hope).

I hope everyone spent at least a few minutes thinking about how our soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines have given their all for us. Not just today, but everyday, I do it everyday, so I don't see the need to broadcast it out there on one day.My parents and I ended up going to our local gardens for the giant bugs exhibit, I will put up pictures tomorrow, they were pretty cool. But no caterpiller, caterpillers are my favorite bugs. I did get a pretty cool picture with a daddy long legs spider.

Friday, May 27, 2011

And other things. I went to 3 garage sales today, one turned out to be a bust.
This first one was advertised as 49 years worth of stuff, if that was the truth, they didn't collect much. I found (another) dictionary, a pack of folders, a Hello Kitty keychain, and a snowman (so much for not buying snowmen) The next sale boasted having lots of homeschool stuff, they did but they were also bundled into $7 bundles, they also said books, they had books, but they were old and $10 each.
I found a giraffe, muffin, cookies, and ribbon. The last sale, I went to last year, should've advertised as everything's a $1.00. I found the stuffed hedgehog, the very cool pitcher, and the 3 pins.

Here's a close-up on the pins, there's a bouquet of roses, a blue bug, and a butterfly.

I always think it's interesting what we gravitate towards at sales, like I always go to jewelery, linens, and glassware. I found a box of pen nibs today, and remembered a blog I read where she collected pin nibs.

I'm sure there's some of you reading this thinking "Why did she buy those?" on some of my items, I know I think that some times, but it's so cool to see everyone's diversified tastes.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

It's Thursday again, and that means time for another Thursday Five. Here's this week's list:

GreatIncredibleInspiredRewardingSwell

1. My lunch and shopping day with my friend yesterday was GREAT. I finally got up the courage to ask if she wanted to go to lunch, and then we kind of bounced around to a few places afterwards and picked up some cool stuff.

2. I picked up an INCREDIBLE book at the library the other day, The Best of PaperCrafts Magazine. It has a whole bunch of amazing cards and paper crafts in it. Maybe this time I can get through it all.

3. I haven't been very INSPIRED to create anything lately. I've been in a bad slump. I did finish a few things last week for my art showing.

4. I have an additional position at the library, it should be very REWARDING, I can't wait until my first performance.

5. I hope to pick up some SWELL items at garage sales tomorrow. According to their ads, they look pretty promising.

I went to a garage sale today, that I went to last year, it was pretty disappointing today.
Green bowl, and bracelets, bag of beads and tiny fork. Now, I don't know if my looking is more refined, or what. But to go from $32 to $1, is a pretty big jump. Maybe I wasn't looking for the same things. I do have a Summer Essentials swap that I signed up for that I have no idea what I'm going to send for that. Last year I picked out a lot of things for my treasured tin swap. I was also very eager to go garage saleing, I just started last year, and this was one of the first few I went to. Course I am trying to spend less now, oh well, who knows.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Today, I went to Younkers, JCPenney, and Walmart to see if they had any cute dresses or skirts, and maybe pick up a new pair of pants. I wound up spending a little over $80, which as you will remember I spent on this day, for more than 2 dresses.
I bought this cute (cheap) bandana. I need something to keep my hair out of my eyes when I'm working, since it's not quite long enough for a pony tail. I found this really cute nightgown

And I bought this outfit (see the bandana?) as well on sale.

I also bought a pair of jeans and a new bra. Like I said I spent about $80, is it just me or do you think that $80 is a bit much for two dresses.

I also went to lunch with a new friend from work, we ended up going to Walmart, a bookstore, Kmart and Borders. I'm so excited I found someone outside of work that I agree a lot with on things. It's so fun to spend time with people outside of work too.

Tomorrow, I have a garage sale I'm going to, and then 4 I might go to on Friday, I'm excited about those, I will share with you what I got.

Yesterday I realized I needed to go to Hobby Lobby because I needed more cheap paintbrushes and some new blades for my paper cutter.
Here's what I ended up buying:
2 picture holders, a pair of blades for my paper cutter, a glue stick, a cute cupcake magnet, a paper craft grab bag, a tiny measuring tape, and a cute backpack I did put back the cute stickers, and the cute stuffed bird and the cute butterfly decorative piece and the decorate a monster, and the wind-up bug. I decided I didn't need those items, cute as they were.
I picked up the picture holders to display some of my artwork this weekend. I am showing some of my artwork at the library for a display. My paper cutter kept leaving fuzzy edges, so I decided it was finally time to pick up some new blades. I've been looking for alternatives to my mod podge, double stick tape and hot glue gun, figured I'd try a glue stick. The cupcake magnet was just too cute to pass up. I bought the paper grab bag because there was a cute set of rub-ons, so I figured that was worth the money alone. I don't have a measuring tape and I seem to need one a lot lately, so why not. And the backpack was too cute. I've been meaning to switch to a summer bag, I usually use my Tinkerbell messenger bag, but last year the straps came off, now I did fix them, but how long til it happens again.

And then today, there were some garage sales, so I decided to go to them. One was a bust, the other two I found a few things.
This is from the first one, pair of leaves, donkey and stick pin and frog I have a huge collection of 3 stick pins now, but they are extremely cute.

And the last sale, I picked up a stuffed pig, a stuffed guinea pig, a Silly Snacks cookbook, and the movie Jumanji on DVD

Not that I need more stuffed animals, but these two were way cute and for a great price. I love the cookbook, and I've always wished I had Jumanji on DVD.

This neighborhood I went to today was supposed to have sales today, Friday and Saturday. I don't think I'll get much done on Sat, I have the art thing from 11-4, I have to set up before then. I figured I might go to a few sales that open at 8, but I'm not walking all the way up there. I might go back tomorrow and see if there's anymore sales, I'm already going to one 10 blocks away, and it didn't take me near as long to walk up there as I thought it would. I was back by 10 and I left at 8:30, so that's pretty good.

Friday, May 13, 2011

So, last weekend was ok.
We headed out to Waterloo around 1PM, we let the GPS direct us, so it was a new way and we got to go through some cute little towns.
We got to Waterloo a little after 3, lounged in the hotel room until about 5, then went to the Brown Bottle for supper, I tried to get something new, but seems with my family, we're all about going somewhere where the food is not exciting and new. I ended up getting some garlic chicken and found out that pine nuts are yummy. Some high school must have been having their prom that night because we got to see tons of kids in their dresses. It was pretty cool.
After supper, we headed over to the art center where the ceremony was taking place. It was pretty cool with a very short ceremony (maybe 15 min), and ending with a silent movie. The reception was just down the hall and it was also around movies, so there were silent movie star tables we were assigned to, there was a candy bar and they had cupcakes instead of cake.
Sunday, we got up and went to the restaurant for breakfast. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet for $7.95, only everything on the buffet was obviously bought somewhere else and heated up. The muffins and bread were cold in the middle, the bagel I had was very hard as if it had sat out a while.
We left around 10:30, stopping off at the super Walmart to pick up some pine bedding for my pig, since the small Walmart in Ames doesn't carry the really big bags anymore. I am very unhappy with that. We arrived in La Porte City shortly after 11 to pick up my grandma, and arrived at my aunt's house shortly after 11:30.
The day was fun, we had a pinata, and it was very entertaining to see my cousin's son, hit it so hard the head came off.
Monday was fun too, got to spend about 3 hours with Loretta and her Bichon Frise puppies. She still has 5 left if you need a puppy.

Today, I squeezed in one garage sale. I had to work this afternoon 1-6, and then tomorrow 8-1, so that pretty much means no garage saleing.
Here's what I got: a giant copper colored pillow, a set of snowmen salt and pepper shakers, a cute little white bowl, and 4 notebooks. I love notebooks and find many uses for them, but you can never find them cheaply anymore, unless you stock up at back to school time. And I had to get the black one for my garage sale adventures. I usually go through the online ads and craigslist, write down the addresses and times, and what interests me. Then I figure out my itenerary and schedule, and write addresses and times in the order I'll go to them.
That way I can always have the addresses with me while I'm out and about.
What was your week like?

Thursday, May 05, 2011

I don't understand why my parents are paying to make sure my plumbing works. It does. They never used to have a plumber come in and look at stuff, only after we redid my bathroom do they do that. Wouldn't you think if my plumbing didn't work I'd tell them?I just got yelled at by my dad because I didn't get my dishes done, and I had a sink full of dishes when the plumbing guy came in today, that I knew for awhile, and why hadn't I done my dishes.I swear, my parents pay for the stupidest things these days.They pay for the pest control to come through twice a year, to spray for bugs, that we don't have. We had an infestation of carpenter ants when I was a kid, and when you live in an old house that's mostly made out of wood, that's really bad. So, ever since we had that happen, the pest control guy comes twice a year.They pay to have random shit done throughout that house, that really doesn't need to be done. Like carpentry stuff, my mom decided a few years ago that I needed a bedroom door, there's never been a bedroom door up here, and it's open 90% of the time, but she paid our (now, we have a single carpenter that we go to, that takes way too much time to get things done) carpenter to put the door in. All that entials is drilling holes for the hinges and attaching the door to the wall, oh and putting a doorknob in it, and of course we need a lock in that door, and it needs to look old, cause we live in an old house.Now, she's hired him to replace my bathroom door. So, it's crappy and looks like someone punched it once, and now that the trim is squared up, it doesn't close properly. She found an old door and we leaned it up against the other one, and it looked fine. It needs to be stripped and painted (can't just paint it cause we have to have it done the right way, even though I'll end up doing it and I don't want the damn thing), before the carpenter can put it in, which just means add hinges and a handle again. And since he didn't do it right away, the damn thing has been sitting in my bedroom, leaned up against my mirror, which I can't use, in the way. It's too big for one person (me) to move back down the stairs to the garage, I finally stuck it under my bed the other day.

OK, so I'm really just annoyed about the plumbing thing. It's interesting how my parents complain about money and then spend it on stupid ways.

I thought I'd join the Thursday 5 on Flip Flops and Combat Boots:FunAmazingRelaxingFabulousInteresting.

1. I had great FUN on Saturday going to the Gilbert city wide garage sales. I got to have a girl's day with my aunts.

2. Saturday afternoon was AMAZING. The weather was in the 60's, the sun was shinning, there was little to no wind. I got my lawn mowed without getting too sweaty, and then my guinea pig and I enjoyed a nice snack on the grass.

3. Today should be pretty RELAXING. All I have to do is my laundry, I'm thinking of doing dishes as well, the sink is overflowing and the water smells kinda funny. I wish the plumbing guy would hurry up and get here so I can start those things.

4. The two dresses I bought yesterday are FABULOUS. I love the green one, it kinda makes me feel like a greek goddess, and I have the cutest sandals to wear with it. The blue one is very cute as well, I realized, while I was looking at it today, it's the same style as the one I wore to my high school graduation.

5. The stores at the outlet center were INTERESTING, other than clothing, they had a couple food stores and a book store. I spent a little more than I planned, but I will enjoy everything I bought.

Well, I hope I did ok. I don't have that great of stuff to write about, I don't have a very exciting life. Next week, I may have more to write about, especially after the weekend I'm looking forward too.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

So, today, my aunt, dad and I went to the Tanger outlet center. My goal was to buy some shirts, skirts and dresses. I ended up with 2 dresses, some books, and some chocolate.
I had gone to the websites of some of the stores in the outlet center, and decided Dressbarn had more of what I wanted (mainly skirts/dresses that hit at knee or longer length).
I saw this one in the store, it hit about calf length, but it seemed way too clingy when I walked. I saw this one on the website, but when I asked if they had any denim skirts, the saleslady said no.

And, I saw this one in the store, but it was dry clean only.

I ended up with these two dresses:
This one is rayon, a nice stretchy fabric, in a nice kelly green. My only problem is, no matter what bra I try on, I can see the top seam through the fabric on the dress. I think I'll end up wearing a black cami underneath so you can't see it. Anyone have any suggestions for a bra I could wear under it. And it's not just that I can see it, it's a definite line where a bra seam would be. I tried it without a bra, but then you can see my nipples, and I sure don't want that. I'm planning on wearing this to wedding on Saturday.

I also ended up with this dress. I love how it comes in at my waist even though it looks pretty straight on the hanger. It's more of a darker cerulean blue, more bright than in the picture. I think this will be a perfect dress to wear to work, or more casual places.

I found a cute skirt at Old Navy, it was a little expensive, I decided after spending so much on dresses, I wasn't spending that much on a skirt.

Most of the time, I buy my clothes at Walmart. I plan on going to the big one soon and see what they have for t-shirts/summer shirts. I need some more of those, they might have a nice bright skirt too.

We went to the Book Warehouse, where they had a special of buy 2 children's books, get a 3rd free. I wasn't planning on doing that, but then I found a math book and since I'm trying to get better at math, I picked that up, I found 2 more nice activity books. Not so bad for 3 books. I loved the prices there.

The last place we visited was the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where I spent way too much. I bought 3 truffles, but they're huge and extremely rich, I bought a 1/3 pound of grasshopper bark, and a bag of chocolate covered bridge mix. I hate how everything was not priced (that's probably how they get you). I love bridge mix. I've decided to adopt what I told myself for garage sale season, if I find something yummy at a sale, I'm going to buy it and not feel guilty. Plus, we all need chocolate right?

I've been feeling bored with my life lately. I don't know if it's because I'm single, or I'm sick of the dull colors, or I just feel stuck in a rut, or all of the above. I have been really sick of pants lately, that was part of the reason I wanted a new skirt. I have 5 that I wear, which are cute, but they are the same 5. Plus, they're not really bright colors. I have decided I like and want more brightness in my life, whether that is clothing, or decorations, or whatever, I want it. I really feel good in skirts. I had a patron at the library comment the other day, that I'm the person with the really cool skirts, and she said it again last night when she saw me, so that definitely bumped up my self esteem.

I'm really excited to wear my new dress on Sat for a wedding. We're traveling to Waterloo for the wedding, staying overnight and then going to my mom's side of the family (I haven't discovered whose house yet) for Mother's Day on Sunday. And then Monday, I get to see puppies! I'm really excited about that. Course I still have 2 days of work before then. Hopefully they'll go by fast.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

It's interesting from who I've have talked to, and read, which people are happy bin Laden in dead and who think it's bad to celebrate the loss of someone.From the limited experience I've had with people between yesterday morning (when I read the news on Matt's blog at Better and Better) to now.People who are in law enforcement, the military or just know a lot about it are very happy he's dead (and for good reason), mostly everyone else either just doesn't care, or is not happy that people are celebrating his death.I haven't talked to many people about it, but Matt's happy (law enforcement), one of my co-workers is happy, very much so (he's in the Army Reserves), and I'm pretty happy about it (love the military, studied criminal justice in school).One less scumbag on Earth, who chose his fate, and ruined parts of our country and bombed numerous places killing thousands of people, what's not to be happy about?